CHENNAI: An Etihad Airways flight bound for Abu Dhabi was forced to return to its parking bay at Chennai airport on Tuesday morning after pilots detected a hydraulic leak shortly before departure, according to Chennai airport sources.
Hydraulic systems are critical to aircraft operations, controlling functions such as braking, steering and movement of flight control surfaces, the sources added.
The Airbus A320 operating as EY343 from Chennai to Abu Dhabi had initially pushed back from stand 25 at around 10.10 am for its scheduled 10.15 am departure. However, the aircraft returned to the same stand minutes later after the crew identified a hydraulic leakage issue during pre-departure procedures.
Airport sources said the aircraft was safely brought back to the bay and standard technical inspections were initiated. The incident caused a temporary delay to the Abu Dhabi-bound service. The flight departed at 2.48pm.